XUB Sustainability Summit2016 at XIMB inaugurated by Governor of Odisha

His Excellency Dr. S. C. Jamir, Honble Governor of Odisha, inaugurated the XUB Sustainability Summit, organized by the Xavier School of Sustainability, Xavier University Bhubaneswar at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar on 12th August, 2016. He also presided over the event as the Chief Guest. The theme of the XUB Sustainability Summit was Energy, Peace and Global Governance.

The other distinguished personalities who graced the occasion were Shri. Upendra Tripathy, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, Mr. Anup Sahay, Chief, Corporate Strategy & Planning, Tata Steel, Mr. P S Narayan, VP & Head, Sustainability, WIPRO and Ms. YumiBae, Chief, Field Office, UNICEF, Bhubaneswar.

The event commenced at 12 noon on Friday, August 12, 2016 with a welcome address by Prof. S. Peppin, Dean, Xavier School of Sustainability (XSoS), which was followed by an introductory address by Fr. Paul Fernandes, S.J, Vice Chancellor, Xavier University.

The Keynote Address was delivered by Mr. Anup Sahay. He highlighted the importance of developing close synergies between governments, industry, civil society and academia in order to build a truly sustainable society. Similar sentiments were echoed by Mr. P S Narayan. The gathering was then addressed by Ms. YumiBae. She spoke of the urgent need to balance human and economic development with the survival of the planet.

His Excellency, Dr S. C. Jamir, spoke of the criticality of humanity progressing on a sustainable development pathway, especially in context of the profound implications these issues have for global peace, stability and security. The Summit Inaugural Function concluded with a vote of thanks by Fr. Lourduraj S. J., Dean, Xavier School of Communications.

The inaugural function was followed by a plenary session chaired by Prof. Dr. Fr. Paul Fernandes, S. J, VC, XUB & Director, XIMB and moderated by Prof. P. D. Jose, Corporate Strategy & Policy, IIM Bangalore. The speakers for this session were Mr. Farookh Mistree, LA Comp Chair & Professor, University of Oklahoma, USA, Dr. Aditi Haldar, Director, GRI, Regional Hub, South Asia, Mr. Ashok Panikkar, Founder, Meta Culture, Bangalore, Mr. Lars Bernd, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction Section, UNICEF - New Delhi, Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran, Chief, Tata Sustainability Group, New Delhi and Ms. Vandana Jain, Head-Education Division, Bharat Sokka Gokkai, New Delhi.

The day was rounded off by parallel sessions on four sub-themes of the Summit: Building Peace and Protecting our Common Home, Sustainable Energy and Future: Challenges and Choices, Advancing Sustainability Education &Research on Energy, Peace & Global Governance and Sustainability & Global Governance.

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) was established 28 years ago. XIMB is now Flagship School of Xavier University Bhubaneshwar (XUB). XUB was established in accordance with the Xavier University Act 2013 and was inaugurated on the 7th of July 2014. The University is Indias first digital University and an institution of higher learning for imparting professional and technical education. Counted among the leading management institutions in the country, XIMB has been awarded A*** grading by CRISIL and the ET Now National Education Leadership Award. The B school offers 2 years full time Post graduate programme in Management and Post graduate Programme in Human Resource Management.